There is a horrible disorder stalking the needlepoint community — BCD or Black Canvas Disorder For most it begins with stitching on black canvas. Then it expands to include stitching areas painted black. In its worst form the disorder expands to include other dark colors such as brown, dark gray or even navy.
I confess I have it — do you?
Jen Funk-Weber has cured her BFD (Black Fabric Disorder, she’s a cross stitcher) and wants to help us cure our own terrible plight. She’s written a blog post with lots of suggestions on what to do.
And no, changing fabric is not the first suggestion, it’s 5 of 6.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
Janet, I enjoy reading your blog and wanred to share a tip for working on black areas of canvas, although I can’t accept credit for the idea. I was sitting in my doctor’s office waiting and working on my canvas. Another patient came in and said she was a needlepointer & could she see what I was working on. We started to chat and noticing there was a large black painted area she asked me if I knew the secret for working with the black areas. Her tip is simple, brilliant, and it works.
She told me to use a soft brush (blusher or men’s shaving brush, etc) and lightly brush the black painted areas with talcum powder. I rushed right home and didn’t have talcum, but I used corn starch and got the same result. I could see the black painted areas well enough to stitch w/o a magnifier or extra light. 99% of the corn starch disappeared as I was stitching and will not harm the yarn. The rest came out when it was blocked. Simple, great idea. Libbi